Monday, 16 September 2013

Another great weekend…..

We’ve had another great weekend, spent in company with Lesley and Joe from nb Yarwood and their two black labs, Floyd and Fletcher. Having met up again at Hopwas, we went to check out which pub we wanted to go to for Sunday lunch – which took all of two hours and several pints! We decided that the Tame Otter looked the better bet, as Lesley remembered eating in the Red Lion some years ago, and it was so awful that they complained to the manager and ended up not paying. We have eaten at the Tame Otter on several occasions and it was always fine.

The weather on Sunday turned out not to be as bad as forecast so Lesley and I took the dogs for a walk in Hopwas Woods on Sunday morning. Good job Lesley had a GPS app on her phone as I got us hopelessly lost! Anyway, Lesley being a great deal more observant than I, recognised the bit where we had strayed from the path and got us back on track. Lesley, you are a better man than I, Gungadin!!!

Having returned safely from our walk we went to the pub for lunch – and very good it was too, as evidenced by 4 clean plates. The weather was starting to close in by the time we left the pub, there having been two heavy rain showers whilst we were there, so we tucked ourselves up in our boats with fires lit and kept toasty warm. Ozzy tried to make a new friend later on, the cat from the boat moored behind us, but the cat was having none of it! It retreated onto the stern of the boat and there it stayed, yowling softly at Ozzy.

This morning dawned clear and bright and very windy. The sun was shining as we left, occasionally hiding behind cloud.

The obligatory photo from one of the bridges in Hopwas

We left Yarwood moored outside the Tame Otter waiting for a Tesco delivery. They are heading for the Ashby, and will need a full larder as there are no shops.

On the way to Fazeley we passed our old Ownerships boat – nb Kinver

We stopped at Peel Wharf to service the boat, and then past Fazeley Junction and the start of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal

Fazeley Junction

Next came a very rapid trip up the two Glascote locks – both were in our favour and the gates open ready for us.

Passing Alvecote Marina we spotted nb Lamprey, an old working boat belonging to a fellow Villa supporter who moored beside us at Gayton for a little while.

We decided to have an early stop today as the wind is making boating tad ‘challenging’, and we like this spot just opposite the ruins of Alvecote Priory – the advantage is that it quite sheltered. We had a walk over the bridge to have a look at the Priory. However, there was no information about the ruin, so the following is nicked straight from Wikipedia.

Alvecote Priory is a ruined BenedictinePriory. Now very little remains, most of the walls have been eroded but a fairly high wall remains on one side. The main entrance arch is the most impressive feature, still standing at around 20 feet (6.1 m) high.

It was founded 1159 by William Burdett as a dependency of Great Malvern Priory. After returning from a crusade, Burdett accused his wife of being unfaithful and stabbed her, and as penance founded the monastery.

Roger retired from the RAF in April 2009 and, having become 'canal-aracks' about 15 years ago, we decided to have a narrowboat built for our retirement. We are land-based in the winter, and will be cruising in the spring, summer and autumn.